Economics, Trade & Investment

2 June 2011: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) held an informal thematic debate on the topic “Green Economy: A Pathway to Sustainable Development,” including a morning panel on opportunities and challenges of a green economy, and an afternoon panel on transitioning toward green economy, as well as extensive discussion.

2 June 2011: The first Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers' Meeting convened under the theme, "Vision and Action: Cooperation Across the Ocean," to discuss ways for the Republic of Korea to expand development cooperation to Pacific Island Countries (PICs), as well as how the participating countries can work together in addressing climate change. It concluded with the adoption of a joint statement comprising major achievements of the meeting.

2 June 2011: The second US-Brazil Global Partnership Dialogue convened on 1 June 2011 in Washington, DC, US, and was preceded by senior-level meetings on: science, technology and the environment; trilateral development cooperation and food security; and regional issues.

1 June 2011: The fifth College-to-College meeting of the European Commission and the African Union (AU) Commission was held on 31 May-1 June 2011, in Brussels, Belgium, to develop shared policy agendas. During the meeting, participants discussed ways to enhance cooperation both on short-term challenges and on the long-term structural changes, such as green growth, climate change and biodiversity.

1 June 2011: The World Bank announced that eight developing countries will receive an initial grant of US$350,000 to support the design, pilot and implementation of market-based instruments for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation.

31 May 2011: The World Bank Board has approved a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of US$4.1 million to support São Tomé and Principe in increasing its adaptive capacity to the adverse impacts of climate variability and change.

1 June 2011: During the Carbon Expo taking place in Barcelona, Spain, the World Bank released the 2011 edition of its State and Trends of the Carbon Market Report, which indicates a slight decline in carbon markets compared to 2009.

25 May 2011: The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding areas of common interest and activity, including employment, social protection, labor migration, green jobs, occupational safety and health and statistics.

20 May 2011: The Global Compact Week, held from 16-20 May 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark, convened practitioners engaged in the initiative's working groups, issue platforms and Local Networks, providing an opportunity to share experiences across issues and countries. The Week included the first UN Global Compact Annual Meeting, the Annual Local Network Forum and the third annual meeting of Caring for Climate signatories, which addressed the business contribution to global sustainability ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

This conference is held on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme. It is organized by UNESCO-MAB, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the German Commission for UNESCO. The conference will bring together high-level political and scientific representatives, both from climate and nature conservation politics, from administration, science and practice from all over the world, including several ministers. The conference will demonstrate how more than 560 UNESCO biosphere reserves in over 100 countries, beyond conserving biodiversity, can contribute to effective climate change mitigation and adaptation. UNESCO biosphere reserves as model regions for sustainable development make available extensive experiences, for example on sustainable land use, green economies, conservation of ecosystem-services, as well as research and education.